Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Ibrahim El Kadiri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kaya Symons is on it.
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. De Graafschap have a player doing his work under protest.
Louka Vanderbruggen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris-Kévin Nadje was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to PSV, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Chris-Kévin Nadje’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and De Graafschap needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Sam Bouwman
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” De Graafschap have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around De Graafschap are no longer polite ones.
The terraces9 Sep 2030
The mood at De Graafschap has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
De Graafschap interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Aulon Asani has, at De Graafschap, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Louka Vanderbruggen and De Graafschap agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
15 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
0‑4 against Twente, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
De Graafschap close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ibrahim El Kadiri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris-Kévin Nadje is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Roda have kept their man, and De Graafschap go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at De Graafschap, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Feyenoord, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Reuven Niemeijer was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
De Graafschap asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. De Graafschap have done the hard part with Roda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
De Graafschap asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at De Graafschap will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. De Graafschap lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Sam Bouwman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim El Kadiri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom15 Jul 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at De Graafschap
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. De Graafschap lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Feyenoord keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and De Graafschap go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cody Babel has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Position 16 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Everything agreed with Feyenoord, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Reuven Niemeijer commits to De Graafschap for another 2 years.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim El Kadiri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Excelsior have kept their man, and De Graafschap go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Memphis Malen is 15, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV have kept their man, and De Graafschap go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thomas Bonnet and De Graafschap agree another 3 years.
De Graafschap have made the call to Excelsior. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Louka Vanderbruggen is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Ibrahim El Kadiri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris-Kévin Nadje was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at De Graafschap will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom17 Jun 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at De Graafschap
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A muscle injury sidelines Steven Babel for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. De Graafschap will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Milan Smits is somebody else's player now, and $400.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” De Graafschap have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim El Kadiri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Louka Vanderbruggen and De Graafschap agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Sam Bouwman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at De Graafschap is running low.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Issam Chahlafi is a De Graafschap player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Issam Chahlafi and De Graafschap agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. De Graafschap were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kaya Symons is on it.
A new face in his position, and Bart Nieuwkoop suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. De Graafschap have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
In brief
The dugoutKaya Symons knocks on the manager’s door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cody Babel has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mohammed Ibn Alabbar has just signed for De Graafschap, and for once the answer mattered.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Ibn Alabbar and De Graafschap agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jorvimar Martina is on it.
In brief
Boardroom$369.5K a year onto the De Graafschap books
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Mart Jansen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at De Graafschap will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sam Bouwman has written the date down.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. De Graafschap will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at De Graafschap will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cody Babel has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason De Graafschap will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” De Graafschap have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim El Kadiri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Chris-Kévin Nadje is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at De Graafschap says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. De Graafschap will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at De Graafschap, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 16 on 22 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Ibrahim El Kadiri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris-Kévin Nadje was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. De Graafschap will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cody Babel has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Sam Bouwman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at De Graafschap is running low.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris-Kévin Nadje is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rowan Besselink and De Graafschap agree another 3 years.
The dugout18 Feb 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Cody Babel to a room that had heard them before.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. De Graafschap will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim El Kadiri provided it, and the 8.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ajax keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Sam Bouwman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between De Graafschap and PSV, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
SquadWords at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. De Graafschap have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Twente; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Sam Bouwman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The mood at De Graafschap has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason De Graafschap will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim El Kadiri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout31 Dec 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Cody Babel to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Ibrahim El Kadiri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.68 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Sam Bouwman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between De Graafschap and Ajax, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kyano Kwint has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Sam Bouwman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at De Graafschap can tell you which week it ends in.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Djalil El Makrini and De Graafschap agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Ibrahim El Kadiri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris-Kévin Nadje was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cody Babel after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. De Graafschap told Sam Bouwman something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Feyenoord in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
6 goals in one match, Kyano Kwint on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of De Graafschap and Heerenveen.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim El Kadiri is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Benjamin Mambo and De Graafschap agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. De Graafschap told Adnan Hazard something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Ibrahim El Kadiri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris-Kévin Nadje was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at De Graafschap is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Nobody at De Graafschap will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. De Graafschap know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
De Graafschap ran out of time with Ajax. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris-Kévin Nadje was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kyano Kwint. 1‑0 against Excelsior, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have shaken hands with Ajax; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 17 gone
That is the business done at De Graafschap until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Ibrahim El Kadiri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris-Kévin Nadje is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
De Graafschap asked and Paris Saint-Germain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cody Babel has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sam Bouwman has just signed for De Graafschap, and for once the answer mattered.
The deal with Ajax is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
$710.0K was the most the club would pay and PSV were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shirt still fits. Sam Bouwman is back at De Graafschap, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Real Sociedad have kept their man, and De Graafschap go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
The dugoutBart Nieuwkoop loses the manager who believed in him
The words a physio says slowly. 46 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and ADO Den Haag waiting with a shirt. Nobody at De Graafschap is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. De Graafschap lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Reuven Niemeijer was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
De Graafschap asked and Twente said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. De Graafschap lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Reuven Niemeijer was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim El Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at De Graafschap, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at De Graafschap says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
The words a physio says slowly. 100 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what De Graafschap can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris-Kévin Nadje is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. De Graafschap lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at De Graafschap can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Position 16 on 22 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what De Graafschap can pretend not to have heard.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at De Graafschap can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jasper Cillessen and De Graafschap agree another 2 years.
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris-Kévin Nadje is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at De Graafschap can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. De Graafschap lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at De Graafschap can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
A brace, and Kyano Kwint takes the afternoon — 9.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kyano Kwint provided it, and the 9.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at De Graafschap, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
De Graafschap close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Heerenveen were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Cody Babel has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ties Wieggers and De Graafschap agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
De Graafschap asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. De Graafschap know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ties Wieggers